idc

An IDC analyst doesn't like what he's seeing so far from PC makers and their pricing for Windows 8 products.

Lenovo and Acer this week began disclosing pricing for tablets and convertibles that range between $499 (Acer) and $1,099 (Lenovo). Bob O'Donnell, program vice president of clients and displays at IDC, doesn't think this kind of traditional PC pricing bodes well for the sales of newfangled hybrid devices.

"The problem is these things are priced way too high. Look at the history of tablet products priced above the iPad. Not pretty," he said … Read more

IDC says the global computer market "withdrew sharply" in the third quarter, with shipments falling 8.6 percent from the prior year. The tech research firm had expected a decline of just 3.8 percent -- what it called a relatively quiet quarter as companies prepare for the upcoming Windows 8 launch.

Rival Gartner, meanwhile, said shipments slid 8.3 percent to 87.5 million units, worse than its expectation for a 6.5 percent decline.

Both firms noted that back-to-school promotions weren't … Read more

New products and growing consumer demand could trigger a surge in global tablet shipments to 117 million for 2012, according to IDC.

The new forecast is an increase over IDC's previous prediction, which was looking for tablet shipments of 107 million for the year. Peering over the horizon, the research firm now expects shipments to reach 166 million next year, up from its prior estimate of 142 million. And by 2016, shipments could soar as high as 261 million.

"Despite ongoing economic concerns in most regions of the world, consumers continue to buy tablets in record numbers, and … Read more

Cloud openness, and what "open" means exactly in the context of cloud computing -- whether on-premise or in a public cloud--are hot topics at the CloudOpen conference, which is being held by the Linux Foundation in San Diego this week. CloudOpen is a new event being run in parallel with LinuxCon.

That those on stage and in the audience at this event favor openness is hardly news. Nor is the fact that an open cloud is a challenge that goes beyond open source. During a panel moderated by Red Hat's John Mark Walker, Greg DeKoenigsberg of Eucalyptus … Read more

The traditional PC market is in dire need of some hot new products to drive growth. Too bad that's probably not going to happen soon, according to market researcher IDC.

The worldwide PC market has basically slowed to a crawl this year, IDC says in a report released today. It expects just 0.9 percent growth this year, the second consecutive year of growth below two percent.

While citing the usual macroeconomic culprits -- slowness in Asia and mature markets -- the report said consumers are "considering spending on other products like media tablets and smartphones" while … Read more

Microsoft is expected to build a little more than 3 million Surface tablets, market researcher IDC told CNET. An IDC analyst also offered his views on the likelihood of a $199 version of the tablet.

Production plans are for a few million units for calendar 2012, said IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell in a phone interview. "Probably a little over 3 million, both [Intel] x86 and ARM," he said. Surface RT is built around ARM processors and will not support older "legacy" software that runs on Windows 7. Intel-based Surface will run Windows 8 Pro that … Read more

Google's Android operating system dominated the mobile arena last quarter, according to new data from research firm IDC.

IDC reported that 104.8 million Android-based smartphones shipped worldwide during the second quarter, representing a 106.5 percent gain over the 50.8 million handsets that launched in the same period last year. Android nabbed 68.1 percent of the smartphone market last quarter.

Android's top competitor, Apple's iOS, was dominated by Google's operating system last quarter, nabbing only 16.9 percent market share on 26 million smartphone shipments. That figure was up 27.5 percent compared … Read more

Ultrabook numbers will fall far short of Intel's aggressive market share targets, an IDC analyst told CNET. The MacBook Air, meanwhile, continues to coast amid continued popularity.

An IDC report today showed a weak PC market caught in its seventh consecutive quarter of little to no growth.

"The volume isn't there and it's going to be way below what Intel had hoped for," IDC analyst Jay Chou told CNET, referring to ultrabooks.

"The first half [of 2012] is about 500,000 ultrabooks shipped worldwide. It's nowhere near Intel's initial hope," Chou … Read more

Worldwide PC shipments are down 0.1 percent from last year, signaling the PC market's seventh consecutive quarter of little to no growth, according to analyst reports.

Though HP continued to be at the top of the heap, its global shipments declined by about 12 percent, according to reports from research firms Gartner and IDC. Worldwide shipments totaled 87.5 million units in the second quarter of 2012.

Among vendors, Apple was the only one to see a growth in shipments. Its 12 percent share of the market this year meant the company's shipments grew 4.3 percent, … Read more